Halos and Ink
by OffMyTea
Summary: Strange things have begun to happen, and not the normal strange things. Ghostfreak has a new partner, and Ben and the gang have a new team mate. Her name? Heaven. Heaven Levin.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hi!

Disclaimer: I own my OC. Everything else, not mine. If you think it's mine, you es loco.

There were a few howls of alarms that had gone silent after the codes had been put in to make them quiet. He wasn't too worried. Someone tried to break in on a weekly basis, trying to destroy his fortress, trying to ruin his kingdom of ghostly ghouls that would possess souls and bodies only to create more minions. His claw-like fingers tapped on the arm of his stone throne, one purple eye watching the entrance for any signs of an intruder. He hadn't yet gotten the message from Frightwig that it was safe yet. The red-haired freak would usually come in and tell him that his palace was secured again.

Nothing had come yet. Nothing.

He silently summoned one of his minions, the ghostly white coming up through the floor before materializing again. One of his long, thin fingers pointed towards the door and the minion floated like a genie towards the shadowy doorway. There was a long moment of silence as it peered around with the purpled eye that examined the darkness for any signs of an intruder.

Ghostfreak watched from his throne as the white phantom floated further into the blackness until the ectonurite completely lost sight of his minion.

A shriek pierced the air, loud, long, then dead.

Ghostfreak's clawed fingers clutched at the arms of his throne as he rose from the stone a bit. He summoned a few more phantoms through the floor just as the blackness spilled into the room from the doorway, shadows enveloping walls until everything seemed to be bathed in black. He watched as his underlings began to extend the tentacles out of their stomachs in an attempt to scare away the shadows only to see that the blackness was… absorbing them. It only took a moment for all of them to be sucked into that overwhelming darkness before the leader of the phantoms was the only one left, that same blackness closing in on him in the forms of black dragons and dark tendrils of thorns, an ebony rose emerging like an eclipsed sun in the overwhelming darkness.

And the petals of the bloom lunged for the phantom king, thorns of black tendrils snaking around his body, coiling up around him like an anaconda.

A hoarse cry escaped his fanged lips as his claws had no effect on the shadows. His claws found air where the darkness lingered and wrapped around him, a solid force that he could inflict no harm upon. Solid around him, air through his sharp fingers. Blackness that was something, blackness that was nothing.

"Zs'Skayr."

A voice through the shadows, a voice through the darkness, one that bore confidence, strength, no fear. Not an ounce of fear. The controller of the blackness.

He tried to lash out again, tentacles surging out of his stomach only to find those same tendrils stabbing into the shadows, empty air, almost nothing… almost nothing… Claws slashed at it only to flow right through the darkness. Through it.

"I have a proposition, Zs'Skayr." He thought he could see a humanoid form standing in the shadows, standing in the clouds of inky blackness. Unaffected, unharmed, untouched.

Another howl surged from the depths of his chest and flowed through the air, the thorny vines still wrapping around him, now pinning his arms to his sides, his large purplish eye finally having to shut as the airy beast of black finally cloaked him in cloudy darkness. He howled again, the shadows surging down his throat, running like water, like liquid.

The humanoid form stepped through the shadows. "Team up with me, Zs'Skayr. Then I will make it all go away."

A choked word came from him and the dragons and roses that had wrapped around Ghostfreak retreated, back to the being that wore them. Blackness faded back to the gray of day, no light to burn the phantom's skin and burn him into powdery white dust. He ended up on the ground, finding himself out of breath. After a moment or so of just breathing and regaining his strength from the struggle, he looked up at the form that stood over him, the power of a thousand demons spread across its body. "Who… are you?" he asked, words still sounding strangled as if some of those black shadows still remained in his throat.

"Your new partner." A glittering grin sprawled across that devilish face. "And you're the one who's going to help me take down Ben 10 for the last time."

A/N: Sounds so cliché, but come on, every show needs a new baddie every now and then, right? ^.^ Anyways, review?

~Sky


	2. Chapter 2

"Are you sure there aren't any bad guys who need their butts kicked by us?" Kevin said in an annoyed tone, leaning back casually as he placed his arm on the couch behind Gwen, his expression board, black locks falling down in front of his face. The young red head turned her green eyes to look at him beside her, a slight smirk on her face as she did. Across from them, sitting in a chair with his feet on the coffee table sat Ben, his green coat hung on the back of the chair behind him.

"Positive. There hasn't been any activity lately. Well, not that we know of at least. I know that Grandpa Max hasn't sent us anything." Ben responded, sighing as his head dipped back, letting it rest on the soft cushion of the pillow as he closed his eyes, not sure what to do either.

"Here. We can double check with the news, alright?" Gwen said, leaning forward away from Kevin as she reached out towards the small coffee table, gripping the T.V. remote in her hand as she leaned back again, her long hair tickling Kevin's face slight as she came to rest her head on his shoulder. With a click, the machine sprang to life, an instantly a story came on the T.V. From what they could see, there was what appeared to be some sort of monster attacking people. Another of Dr. Animo's creations.

"Finally!" Kevin said with a grin, springing up from the couch without a second thought, rushing for the door without even bothering to look back and see if the others were following him or not. With a slight smile, Gwen was soon following close behind, Ben running out the door to jump into the car along with the rest. There was a screech of tires and they were off, speeding down the street, Kevin not throwing one glance back at all. Of course, Gwen and Ben braced themselves for a moment, trying not to get thrown out of their seats from the force.

.ooOOoo.

"Okay Tennyson, it's your move." Kevin said leaning against the frame of the car as the three watched the giant dog like creature before them. It gave a loud roar, turning to the flipped car beside it and taking it into its massive jaws, then lifting it with ease. What once might have been a harmless dog was now a large monster, its fur gone in some places and replaced by either muscle or bone, giving it the appearance of one like a monster out of a horror story.

Ben smirked, and without another word, quickly spun the dial of the Omnitrix, then slamming his palm against it with a wide grin. As the flash of green light filled the area, Kevin and Gwen turned away, shielding their eyes as Ben began his transformation once more.

"Spider Monkey!" The high pitched voice of the alien screeched as the flash died down, leaving the alien monkey being in Ben's place. With a swift movement, Ben was up in the air, his tail swinging under him to shoot a large amount of webbing down at the mutant dog, whom by now had realized that something was amiss as it jumped in the air at Ben, jaws snapping together only to be met with the web.

As the creature fell back down to the pavement, the spider web covering it's muzzle, it growled, wriggling on the ground as it tried to get it's huge paws up to scratch it off. But Kevin was on it by then, running his fingers along the surface of the asphalt as he rushed the creature, instantly taking on the substance beneath him.

Hand forming into a large hammer made of the asphalt; Kevin brought it down atop the creatures head, than quickly dodged the incoming claws as the creature struck back. Gwen was right there behind him though, forming her mana into the slices as she threw them at the mutant animal. It cried out from pain, its jaws finally ripping the webbing away as its mouth flew open.

"Okay, so that didn't work…hit it till it falls?" Ben suggested as he landed in between Kevin and Gwen.

"I like your thinking Tennyson." Kevin grinned as he formed a mace with his other hand, rushing forward now with both that and the hammer. Gwen threw Ben a look but only followed behind her boyfriend as they rushed at the creature once more. Ben was dashing across the asphalt with great speed, his many legs making it easy.

Once again Gwen formed her mana as Kevin aimed a throw at the dog like creature, a glad cry escaping his lips as the hammer hit the leg of the creature, the mace hitting its underside. Once again there was a cry from the creature, and it turned on the small group, aiming to kill as it snapped it's fangs at them, trying to a grip at one of them as it charged back.

The three dodged, backing away as quickly as they could as the thing came at them still, speed increasing by the minute. Kevin decided he wasn't going to retreat as he once again charged, only to be met with a large swinging paw that threw him across the lot and into his car. There was a crack of metal, and as he slid down he came to rest against his car, head falling to the side as his body state returned to normal, unconscious.

"Kevin!" Gwen called out, though she knew she wouldn't get a response. With a quick movement, she was once again swing out mana left and right as she let out her anger upon the creature, letting her intent become clear as it yelped slightly and began to back away. While it was distracted, Ben rushed forward and leaped onto the mutant dog, gripping its fur, or what he could grab.

The dog then tried to twist around and grab at Ben, but he was fighting back, letting one of his small fists pound into the creatures head over and over again, and refusing to give up. The creature began to sway, both from the pounding of Ben and the attacks of Gwen. But in one last protest and attack, it flipped over, crushing Ben between its body and the pavement before falling unconscious.

Gwen quickly lifted the dog like thing from Ben and placed if farther away, rushing over to him. A flash and he was back in his human form, though still laying there, not moving. She knelt down and began to slap at his face gently, trying to wake him. He groaned, and after a moment more, his eyes slowly fluttered open, sitting up as he rubbed his head.

"Did we win?" He muttered, looking up to his cousin beside him. She smiled then leaned forward, wrapping him in a warm hug. At first, Ben tried to pull away, but then ended up hugging her back.

"What about Kevin?" He asked, and instantly Gwen let her eyes travel back to where Kevin had fallen. He was now rubbing his head as well, already looking over to the cousins where they were. Ben felt Gwen's posture lose its tension and relax once more, and knew that she felt things were okay.

"I have one question: Where's Animo?" Kevin stated after he had gotten up and come over to the pair, standing beside Gwen as she helped Ben to his feet, letting him brush off the grit from his jacket as he faced his friends. He had a point, for if one of the mad man's creations showed, the man himself usually wasn't far behind.

"Right here!"

The scratched voice came from above, but by the time the trio turned around, Ben found himself on the ground pinned by two pairs of large talons while Gwen and Kevin were thrown to the side by an enormous, white wing. As Ben struggled, a loud, maniacal round of laughter echoed through the parking lot, and near the mutant bird's head appeared Animo.

"Your alien DNA is going to be mine this time!" Anime said with a broken grin and another cackle of laughter as he watched Ben struggling still. Gwen and Kevin slowly rose to their feet, and upon seeing Ben, began to rush forward.

"Uh, uh, uh! Come closer and little Benny here gets a shave." Animo said darkly, narrowing his eyes at the pair as they tried to come closer. As if to emphasize this point, the large bird shifted for only a moment, it's talon running along Ben's neck to leave a small scratch mark, not breaking the skin, but coming close.

Kevin and Gwen instantly stopped where they were at the moment, knew what their limits were in a situation like this. Animo smiled, knowing that he had the advantage at the moment, and wanting to keep it that way.

But what happened next surprised every single person there.

Out of nowhere leapt a large cougar, its coat the color of amber, its eyes a dark shade of brown. Beneath its pelt rippled muscle, limbs stretching out before it as it came to land on the bird's back behind animal, a low growl escaping its throat as its eyes flashed.

Animo whipped around, instantly facing the creature with shock and horror at first, but it soon turned to glee. He wanted to use this animal for his own purposes, wanted to change it into another of his creations. But apparently, the cougar didn't have any such plans. With another growl, it leapt forward, claws now exposed as it came at the man, sinking the claws into his shoulders and pushing him back towards the ground with ease.

As they collided, Animo felt the air being pushed from his lungs, the cougar still on top of him as it looked down at him, growling with teeth bared in a snarl. It was threatening, and both Animo and the other three knew that this animal was much smarter than what its species normally was. But the intent was understood. With a simple gesture, the bird mutant was gone, spiraling in the sky above as Ben was helped to his feet by Gwen and Kevin, throwing glances as the animal every now and then.

"Umm, here kitty-kitty?" Kevin said quietly, slowly coming towards the cougar with a hand outstretched. He normally wouldn't be worried but a creature like it, and would have beaten it away by now, but due to the animal's strange behavior, he just wasn't sure. The cougar turned its head to him, eyes flashing, but retracted its claws and slowly backed off the criminal, coming to stand a little ways off, though still watching the group. Kevin threw one more glance at the animal before he came up and restrained Animo, coming to drag him and drop him to the ground near his car.

As Kevin turned back around, he noticed that both Gwen and Ben were watching the cougar with surprise. As Kevin let his own gaze turn back around, he realized why they were starring like that at all.

The cougar was change, fur slowly disappearing as the animal appeared to stand up on its own, the figure thinning out to become that of a human. From the amber fur came long, wavy black hair, falling down past broad shoulders, and pooling in some places as well. Claws disappeared, replaced with silver colored finger nails. Dark brown eyes slowly switched to a dark blue hue, the pupils shrinking to become smaller and less cat like. Fur became tanned skin all along the figure, giving it an appealing appearance. A small t-shirt covered the upper half of the frame, a shirt with swirling patterns across its front that gradually faded near the back of the shirt. The lower half of the frame was covered with jeans, as well as a pair of dark red high top converse.

The dangerous animal from moments before was now gone, replaced now with a young girl, probably easily reaching sixteen years old.

"Who are you?" Ben said quietly, taking a step towards her, obviously being cautious as he faced her, unsure of what to make of this sudden change of events. The two behind him had similar reactions and were slowly following behind him as they came closer to the girl.

"Heaven. Heaven Levin."

**Well there ya go guys! Hope ya enjoyed chapter two and the appearance of this new character. :D Sorry it took so long for me to post, but I've got in trouble last week and haven't been able to get on. XD But, now I'm back! Chapter three will be up as soon as possible, and I hope that you all look forward to it as much as I do! Thank Sky for it once it's up by the way! XD R&R! Please and thank you!**

**~ Selena**


	3. Chapter 3

"How can you be my cousin? My mom has no brothers or sisters!" Kevin exclaimed, glaring at the girl who at in the chair across from him, perfectly calm. She smirked slightly, crossing her arms across her chest as she looked up at him. The TV played softly in the background, a soft buzz on the ears of the home's inhabitants as the three teens all stood with the one who had saved them, the one who had suddenly shown up out of the blue.

"Your mom might not, but your dad does. A brother, I mean. I'm his daughter, so that's how. Comprehend that?" Heaven countered, now leaning forward to place her hands on the table. Kevin's eyes narrowed as he looked at her.

"Hey, don't push-" Kevin started to say, but Gwen stepped in front of him, now in between the two.

"If you're Kevin's cousin, then how come you only come to show yourself now?" She said suspiciously, eyeing Heaven with a strange look.

"I've been on Eridan for 16 years. I didn't leave until a few weeks ago. In fact, I was searching for Kevin. My father has only recently informed me of the fact that I had a cousin on Earth." Heaven finished, leaning back in the chair once more as she placed her hands on her knee, regarding the three before her curiously.

"Eridan? I've never heard of that planet." Ben said as he moved around from behind the couch. Heaven nodded slightly.

"Eridan isn't a planet that is very well known, even by Azmuth. My planet, in a way, is very much like yours. We have a similar appearance of the planet, as well as a similar appearance species wise." She stated.

"I see…." Gwen said as she turned and looked at Ben, waiting for any sign of recognition or any sort of plan. But all she received from her cousin was a slight shrug.

"Well, as long as you're here, there is one thing that must be answered: why were you looking for me?" Kevin said as he stood, now beside Gwen again as his fingers slowly twined with hers, his gaze narrowed as he looked at her.

"I'm here because I wanted to join you, and your friends. Father had told me of your exploits here on Earth, of how you save others every day, so I decided that I wanted to be a part of that too." Heaven stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You want to join the team. Well, if that' your goal, then you have to prove yourself first. We just met you, but we don't even know if we can trust you or not." Ben said as he moved around the table to stand in front of where Heaven sat. The girl stood, just a tall as he was, blue meeting green as the two stood face to face, gazing at each other, neither seeming to want to give in.

"Fine. Let me prove it. You shall see that I mean you no harm, nor do I mean to threaten you either." Heaven stated back.

"Guys, look at this." Gwen said as she grabbed at the Plumber's badge that sat on the couch, the green surface blinking slightly, a soft beeping sound emitting from it. As Gwen gently touched the center of the badge with her finger, it glowed brighter and an image flickered slightly, hovering as it flickered more and then slowly came into focus, forming a small image of Max Tennyson before them.

"_Kids. There's something happening on the other side of Bellwood, something that calls for your….special talents."_ Max stated, looking up at all of them, and after Gwen nodded in recognition and the image flickered and died again.

"You heard Grandpa Max, let's go." Ben said as he moved towards the door, Gwen and Kevin moving with him. They threw a glance at Heaven, waiting, and a smile graced her lips as she stood.

"I wouldn't miss this for the world." She said, rushing out before them, a small laugh echoing to them.

**So, there you have it! And to all the readers, I apologize greatly for the delay. I have just been so distracted with school lately that I haven't had much time to write. I can't say when the next update will be, but I promise you that I will be as active as I can be! R&R please!**

**~ Selena**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Heehee, chapter time ^.^**

**Disclaimer: I own my character. Everything else, definitely not mine. Selena owns Heaven.**

Around her plumed this blackness of epic proportions. She screamed only to feel it rushing down her throat, suffocating her. Nearby, more screams erupted, louder than her own, more terrified than her own. And she sucked in a final breath of air, expecting at any second to be saved from the cloud of darkness that swelled along the south side of Bellwood, suffocating anyone in it's path, devouring buildings and creating a dense black fog that would consume the whole city...

Muscular arms grasped her limp body. "Gotcha." The voice was husky, deep. Too perfect. It was a quick bound out of the fog and into safety. It was almost like he would be able to leap a building if he tried. She stayed limp, coughing ever so slightly and groaning as he put her down just outside of the cloud. "Stay here. I'll be back in a sec." Opening one eye, she saw him charging back into the blackness, fearless.

Too perfect.

She coughed and spluttered, sitting up and fighting to breathe, fighting for attention. Her deep brown eyes searched for any signs of help; a brunette caught her eye. She felt some of the blackness still lingering in her throat and coughed harder, struggling to get air into her lungs.

"Hey, hey, are you alright?" Ben Tennyson pushed through the swelling plumes of ebony and through to the dark-haired girl, a victim of dark air. His gaze glazed over with worry, and he quickly slapped her back. Some black escaped from between her lips, and she gave a final cough while swallowing down some air. "Better?"

She managed a nod.

"Gwen!" He was already leaving, calling out to a redhead on the north side of the slowly shrinking cloud. "Try and contain it!"

"Kevin's in there!"

"Then don't contain it!" Ben's green gaze watched the blackness. He paused, jacket swishing behind him as he stopped, and pressed a button on his watch. It lit up green. An image was projected into thin air. He spun it a few times, the image changing while she watched from a few yards away. Then he slammed his hand down on the face of the watch and his body began to mutate. Suddenly, in his place, stood a red monster that looked a bit like a giant shrimp. "Waterhazard!"

She fought back a smile. Too perfect.

Water from the creature's hands spewed out towards the smoky black fog.

Her fist clenched when the fog dropped at the first touch of water. The blackness plummeted out of the sky, droplets of black rain dripping out of a quickly fading ebony cloud. It splashed the ground like blood on a battlefield.

"That worked pretty well, actually," remarked Ben, voice faint as it touched her ears. He had his hands on his hips as she watched him. A cocky grin lit up his features. "It's down."

"And I'm soaked," commented a burly teen coming out of where the fog had once been. Water ran down his face, dripping from his black hair, falling from his chiseled chin. "Thanks a lot, Tennyson."

A curt laugh came from Ben, mocking and honest. "No problem."

And another girl appeared, coming up quickly behind the raven-haired teen and announced, "That's everyone, I think. A few of them are still coughing, but no casualties."

The other girl, the redhead, cut in, "That's always a good thing."

Ben's eyes cast over to her fragile form, watching her give another very convincing cough. "Let's see if we can't get an eyewitness report." He began to move her way.

"Tattoo girl." The raven-haired teen was the first to speak up. Her eyes cast to him and glared lightly. He only backed down and fell in beside the redhead after getting a sharp elbow from Tennyson.

"It's Henna," she said gently while coughing a bit more of the shadowy air out of her lungs. She sat up with a bit of a struggle and then managed to get a hand from the girl with the dark hair. She was hauled to her feet with a bit of care. She knew the reason for the name though. It wasn't unusual for the first thought on people's minds to be Tattoo Girl.

Between the snake that wrapped around her leg to the dragon on the palm of her right hand, ink covered nearly every inch of her tanned body. There was a small ring tattoo behind her left ear, a little fairy wrapped around her left ankle. A rose lay in the small of her back. Around her neck ran a necklace of thorns. A bone was drawn on her left forearm, the talons of an eagle on her right shoulder. The others, ghosts, skulls, suns, stars, ninjas, everything imaginable, were hidden by her deep burgundy halter-top or were drawn too small to see clearly. The only other thing that hid her ink was the pair of jean shorts that hugged tightly to her body. Loose leather sandals were on her feet, showing the fae that wrapped up one ankle and the small dagger that was etched into the other.

And it was all black.

Ben didn't even seem to notice her tattoos. "What happened?" he asked, gentle and calm, patient as she shivered from the shock of all she'd been through in the past few moments. Being saved was sometimes the most incredible part.

She knew exactly what happened. "It's ink."

**A/N: Reviews are love. So are cupcakes ^.^**

**~Sky**


End file.
